Reb Chaim notes regarding Jewishness, conversion and matrilineal descent:
The simplest definition of a Jew is one who underwent a proper conversion to Judaism or traces his lineage maternally to one who underwent such a conversion. In recent times, this latter assertion has been under fire from “Progressive Jews” who feel that matrilineal descent should not define a Jew and that a Jew can be a Jew even if his father was Jewish and his mother was not. However, the Mishna in Kiddushin 66b states that if a child's mother is not Jewish, then the child is "like her"—that is—not Jewish. This Halacha is codified in the Shulchan Aruch[1], without mention of any dissenting opinion; no one argues.
No mention of dissenting opinion; no one argues. This means that 1) at worst, the judgment upon which this particular legal point is established likely is not kosher and is blemished פגום or 2) at best, there is no proper evidence that it is kosher and not blemished. The lack of proper evidence may itself be sufficiently evidential to render the particular code "blemished" merely on account of the lack off evidence. Consequently, the particular law code lacks a proper foundation of support. It needs to be fixed. Properly.
This is a serious flaw in the codified law. Given the tradition's meticulousness regarding the pursuit of justice, it's attention to detail, and the well-known understanding that an undisputed judgment is a corrupted judgment which has failed to objectively consider all the evidence, suggests very clearly that this particular law code may likewise be corrupted by the lack of kosher dispute and/or oppressive supression of the dispute.
[1] Even HaEzer §8:5
technorati tags: Judaism Torah Talmud Torah Halachah Halacha Shulchan Aruch jewishness jews jew jewish people conversion baalei teshuvah matrilineal descent patrilineal descent makhloket justice choshen mishpat pagum ben niddah blemished judgment
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2 comments:
wow, good exposition, thank you for that. i've been considering and researching this issue very deeply over the past few weeks. naturally i am one of the people to whom it matters, identifying very strongly as "ben yisrael" but patently told that i am a liar, an imposter, a sham pretender. from your esoteric-sacred feminine (sorry to sum it up so crudely - just for convenience's sake!) philosophy i initially thought that perhaps you would be like some of the orthodox jewish "feminists" who say that the matrilineal principle empowers and "sanctifies" them. but it seems that perhaps it is more predicated on the "uncleanliness" and "baseness" of non-jewish women than anything else. a lot of people claim that reform just suddenly came along and altered the matrilineal principle in 1983, stam . but there is a precedent, several in fact: ethiopian jews, the varemba tribe, kaifeng jews and karaites all have a tradition of patrilineality. of course anything which challenges the power of the rabbinate is bound to cause controversy. i sincerely hope that one day people will recognise as part of the people of israel children of jewish fathers too, should they wish to identify as such.
Thank you for your comment. May your aliyah be blessed with all good.
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